Refrigerator car ice grate



March 1940' J. 5. SVVANN 2,192,564

REFRIGERATOR CAR ICE GRATE Filed Sept. 50, 1937 V Ewe/26 07"; 0* in L/afizee 5. Gavan/74 Patented Mar. 5, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,192,564 REFRIGERATOR CAR ICE GRATE Delaware Application September 30, 1937, Serial No. 166,633

Claims.

The device relates to insulated refrigerator cars used to transport perishable commodities, such as vegetables, fruits, berries, meats, eggs, frozen fish, etc., and to maintain such commodiv 5 ties while in transit within a predetermined range of temperatures, thus necessitating the use of a cooling means in the summer and a heating means in the winter. It has been found that perishable commodities which have not been a1- lowed to get too cold (freeze) or too hot (bake) have a high market value because they have a longer storage life.

Ice is frequently used as a cooling means in a refrigerator car and one of the objects of the invention is to provide an ice supporting means which is strong enough and resilient enough to support the ice as well as to resist the inertia force of such ice when the car is in motion and furthermore is capable of resisting the shocks caused by dropping large cakes of ice upon such ice supporting means from the roof of the car.

A further object is to provide such ice supporting means with drainage apertures for the melted ice, which apertures are positioned so as to allow circulating air to pass through the ice supporting means.

Specifically, one of the objects of the invention is to provide a metallic plate with stiffening corrugations and drainage apertures so arranged that the apertures in the plate do not weaken the structure or specifically, do not weaken the corrugations as beams.

A further object is to provide a process of making an ice supporting plate with alternating corrugations and apertures wherein the forming of the corrugations in the plate also forms the drainage apertures.

A further object is to provide supporting shelves in a refrigerator car for such ice supporting plate wherein the corrugations rest upon such shelves but wherein the drainage apertures are so positioned that the melted ice does not wet the shelves, or expressing it another way, wherein the shelves do not interfere with air circulation through the apertures.

In the drawing: v Fig. 1 shows a typical ice supporting means or grate according to my invention wherein the supporting shelves are indicated. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows the flat steel .plate before being corrugated.

My improved ice grate is especially adapted for use in the present standard railway refrigerator car wherein the refrigerator car is provided with a bulkhead separating the refrigerant chamber from the lading compartment. The bulkhead is provided with an aperture adjacent v the floor of the car and an aperture adjacentthe 5 ceiling of the car with a solid wall therebetween.

A refrigerant is supported by the grates in the refrigerant chamber in spaced relation to the floor of the car and the basket (or netting) spaces the refrigerant from the end wall and 10 bulkhead to provide the flues. The apertured floor rack supports the lading so as to provide the space which communicates with the flues. A refrigerant, such as ice, in the refrigerant chamber induces a convection circulation of air from 15 the fines through the flue space and the apertures in the floor rack, and as the air'is warmed by the lading, it rises and passes through the bulkhead upper opening, and thence through the flues, and being cooled by the refrigerant, re- 20 peats the convection cycle.

A flat metallic plate is first provided with a plurality of parallel slits 2 between perforations 3. (The perforations merely being to definitely position the ends of the slits.) Then forming 26 the portions of the metallic plate between the slits 2 with corrugations 4 whereby the forming of the corrugations 4 opens up the slits 2 into drainage apertures 5. The plate is then formed with a continuous peripherical flange l which 30 not only cooperates with the corrugations to further stiffen the plate, but also stiffens the plate crosswise of the corrugations.

In forming a metallic plate with a plurality of substantially parallel corrugations 4 the metal is stretched because the length of plate is longer through the corrugated plate than through the flat plate. The apertures 5, however, allow the metal to flow instead of stretching, therefore,

a stronger corrugation is obtained. The cor- 4o rug-ations 4 are preferably formed with portions ID in the plane of. the slits (original plane of the plate) and parts H in a spaced apart plane with the total width of the portions 10 and I 0 in each corrugation being substantially the same 45 as the width of the part I I whereby the strength of the corrugations is not diminished by the slots 5. The construction shown comprises a plurality of substantially parallel corrugations l2 which merge between their ends into a plu-'50 rality of fewer corrugations 13. The corrugations merge into the plate by means of the terminal portions 14. The corrugations preferably decrease in depth toward their ends. Such a corrugated structure provides a series of beams 55 which are very strong and relatively stiff adjacent their medial portions and relatively weak and relatively resilient adjacent their ends. Such resilient feature is very desirable to resist the impact blows of the falling ice and service movements of the car.

The widths of the apertures will vary somewhat proportionately to the depth of the corrugations. If the corrugations vary in depth the slots or apertures will vary in width. The angles indicate shelves l5 fixed to the refrigerator car to support the ice supporting means in the desirable position relative to the other elements of the car. The corrugations 4 preferably overlap these shelves l5 so as to transmit any load imposed thereon to the shelves l5, while the slots or apertures 5 preferably extend between, but do not overlap, the shelves [5 so that melted ice may drain through the apertures or slots but will not come in contact with the shelves. Usually a plurality of my grates will loosely rest upon the shelves l5 which will be held in place by the upstanding arms l6 so that other attaching means need not necessarily be used.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. An ice supporting means for a refrigerator car comprising a metallic plate formed with a plurality of substantially parallel corrugations Which merge between their ends into a plurality of fewer corrugations, said first mentioned corrugations having terminal portions merging into said plate, said plate also provided with slots positioned between said corrugations.

2. An ice supporting means for a refrigerator car comprising a metallic plate formed with a plurality of substantially parallel corrugations which merge between their ends into a plurality of fewer corrugations, said first mentioned corrugations having terminal portions merging into said plate, said plate also provided with slots positioned between said corrugations which are substantially the same length as the distance between said terminal portions.

3. An ice grate for a refrigerator car comprising a metallic plate formed with a plurality of alternating slots and corrugations, each of said corrugations comprising portions in the plane of said slots and a part in a spaced apart plane with the total widths of said portions being substantially the same as the width of said part whereby the strength of the corrugated plate is not diminished by the slots.

4. An ice grate for a refrigerator car comprising a metallic plate formed with a plurality of alternating slots and corrugations, each of said corrugations comprising portions in the plane of said slots and a part in a spaced apart plane with the total widths of said portions being substantially the same as the width of said part whereby the strength of the corrugated plate is not diminished by the slots, said plate being provided with a continuous peripherical flange.

5. An ice grate for a refrigerator car comprising a metallic plate formed with a plurality of alternating slots and corrugations, each of said corrugations comprising portions in the plane 5 of said slots and a part in a spaced apart plane.

JAMES S. SWANN. 

